EDITORIAL: In one incident, a lesson in law enforcement’s challenges

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If you wonder why law enforcement remains rightfully concerned with the erosion of society’s perception of the men and women who serve and protect the citizens of this state – and the associated frustration with the criminal justice system — we offer Exhibit A.

This disturbing example comes from the Sentinel & Enterprise newspaper’s account of a state trooper’s attempt to arrest the passenger of a motorist who had been stopped in a Fitchburg neighborhood for a minor motor-vehicle violation.

This individual, according to the trooper’s report, had no identification and couldn’t remember his Social Security number. While the trooper was trying to determine whether the passenger had given his real name, the soon-to-be-suspect allegedly jumped out of the car and onto its hood. The trooper then attempted to place him in custody, which he allegedly resisted.

By then, several people had arrived on the scene to witness the incident.

Do you believe those gathered:

Assisted the trooper in subduing this individual;

Stood idly by and did nothing;

Actively helped this person get away.

If you selected the third option, sadly, you’d be correct.

Describing what had now become a “skirmish,” the trooper said he was grabbed by at least three people, allowing that person to flee.

As the trooper began to give chase, a woman allegedly seized him and tore the shoulder area of his uniform, ripping off his portable radio.

Undaunted, the trooper continued his pursuit, despite being trailed by four to six men yelling, “You’re not going to get him, we’ll (expletive) kill you.”

With no radio to call for backup, the trooper broke off the chase for his personal safety.

Authorities eventually verified that the last name the suspect had given, Fowler, was actually his. It was also determined that Fowler had a nationwide extraditable warrant for his arrest out of Florida, for resisting arrest and assault and battery on a police officer, the trooper reported.

Sabiru LeClair, the woman who ripped the trooper’s uniform and said she was Fowler’s mother, was issued a criminal citation for resisting arrest and malicious destruction of property.

An arrest warrant was issued for Xzacheon Fowler, 21, for assault and battery on a police officer and resisting arrest, as well as a citation for failing to wear a seat belt, according to court documents.

Subsequently apprehended, Fowler was arraigned last week and charged with assault and battery on a police officer and resisting arrest, as well as some other minor offenses.

He was ordered held in lieu of a $1,000 cash bail or $10,000 surety bond. He’ll next appear in court on Sept. 16.

Why the mother wasn’t charged with assault, and how $1,000 cash bail was deemed sufficient for someone who already had a nationwide warrant for assaulting a police officer, makes any sense – even in light of criminal justice bail reform – is an issue for another time.

While given that any defendant retains the presumption of innocence unless judged otherwise in a court of law, and that the bystanders in this case knew the suspect, this one episode represents a painful microcosm of the rule of law’s degradation — a demoralizing reality that public-safety personnel across this country face all too frequently.